re: This Parks and Rec show isn't bad

I rewatched a bunch of episodes two weekends ago, think I'll start a full rewatch because it was enjoyable. Been a few years.

Fred is great but the Venezuela is a utopia episode is very dated considering what has transpired in that country.

quote:

---

Fred Armisen Is funny in everything. He's an American treasure.

---

Also a notorious a-hole.

When Elizabeth Moss started going off on how terrible he was as a husband, he pretty much said “yeah I’m not a good person to be with.”

quote:

---

The same dudes that greenlit “Bros.”

---

I think that was Apatow and pals, don’t recall Daniels and Schur being part of that.

quote:

---

I suspect the idea was to make fun of libertarians, but Ron was correct about most things.

---

Ron’s character is actually based on someone Schur knew in real life. A staunch libertarian that worked in government and has no qualms wanting as little government as possible. It wasn’t to make fun of libertarians, but to explore that dynamic. They did solid by Ron. He does some off the wall stuff at times, but they show Leslie doing the same thing in her way.

Plus they had Ron marry Lucy Lawless. You know that’s right.

quote:

---

I watched an interview with one of the writers after the show had wrapped up. He was joking about how bitter he was that his favorite joke in the entire show was an ad-lib by Pratt.

The joke: “Leslie, I typed your symptoms into the computer and it says you have network connectivity issues.”

---

That writer played the role of Mose on The Office

quote:

---

Ron’s character is actually based on someone Schur knew in real life. A staunch libertarian that worked in government and has no qualms wanting as little government as possible

---

I’m pretty big and small L and I work in a cybersecurity job where government is my main customer. The irony isn’t lost on me but I’ve also got texts from my sales people mid-call asking me WTF I’m doing telling them they can knock off XYZ product because it would be a waste.

Because I don’t want the tax payer to waste $30k on a widget they’ll never use Braxtyghn. We can deliver a good provable product for $50k where they’ll see the benefits without us selling bullshite unproven vaporware for $80k just so you can meet your quarterly’s.

quote:

---

Fred is great but the Venezuela is a utopia episode is very dated considering what has transpired in that country.

---

Isn’t this the point of the episode at the end that it was complete bullshite?

The characters in parks and Rec are more likeable than the office, especially on rewatches

quote:

---

Some of my favorite character development and story lines in all of my tv watching

---

a few days old, but i agree with this. for the most part, you like almost everybody to a degree by the end (except for JR and ML Saperstien.)

Tom is a completely selfish poonhound in season 1-3 and by the end he's still the same character, but you actually like him and are rooting for him.

Andy goes from complete loser idiot mooch to somebody that brought joy to the children of Pawnee every week.

my favorite character arc is Ron and it's not that he changed much by the end, you just saw the completeness of a man who just wants to be left alone forced to be around people and he shows kindness to them just about every step of the way.


one of the best writeups i ever saw about the show after the conclusion is that Leslie was a star eyed liberal do-gooder government employee who used and abused government to get what she wants (even if it was for good usually.) Ron is a grumpy libertarian who hates the government and sees it as always corrupt and acts like he doesn't like his workplace proximity associates, but constantly helps them on his own time and money.